steady rest bearings retrofit with 4140 rings 2 indicators on flat bar across lathe ways to adjust SR Trueing-workpiece-to-steady-rest--PracticalMachinist-Tech Tip http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php/trueing-w-p-steady-192957.html Trueing W/P to steady rest If your workpiece isn't true to the steady, things aren't going to go to good. Plus it'll want to possibly walk out of the chuck. I took a piece of 5/16 flat and welded a T to it with two tabs to maintain alignment. These are box ways on an American, but you could make vees for other lathes. I put small plastic buttons at six locations for a nice glide. The underside indicator is centered with the chuck and is adjustable up and down for a max of 12 1/2'' dia. stock. The side indicator, also centered, slides and locks across the beam. Slide it back and forth from the chuck to the steady. Adjust the rolls on the steady until both indicators read zero. Now it's ready. To keep chips out of the steady rolls I cut card stock the dia. of workpiece and about 12'' dia. These are 2 3/4'' x 35'' 4140 HT axles for 24 ga. mining cars. Had to do a pile of them. One more thing. If you use only bearings for steady rollers you may get a bad finish on the material. The outer race is too thin and flexes. I make 4140 rings and press the bearings in them. Ray on center ? I usually attach an indicator to the material about 6 inches from the chuck and put the stem to the outer edge of the chuck ,rotate the spindle by hand and adjust steady till the reading is 0 .Normal sag of the indicator will have the tailstock end down slightly,keeping the material wanting to move away from the chuck ,add a little up pressure to help it stay in the chuck jim